Scintillators, or scintillation devices, are used in diagnostic instrumentation to convert ionizing radiation into more easily detectable and imageable light. “Scintillator” is used herein to mean any substance that emits light in the visible or infrared range in response to incident ionizing radiation. During operation of a scintillation system, a radiation source emitting excitatory radiation is typically directed at a subject, e.g., a patient or an object, and the resulting radiation pattern is guided to a scintillator where photons in the visible or infrared range are emitted in response to the ionizing radiation. The resulting photons can then be detected by a photodetector such as a photodiode, photo multiplier tube or charge coupled device. The radiation source may be, for instance, x-rays, gamma rays, alpha particles or beta particles. The radiation may be generated electrically or emitted from a radioactive isotope.
Scintillators may be polymers or crystals that are substantially transparent to the output wavelength. Instruments that include scintillators are used in a variety of industries including healthcare, security screening and mining. Diagnostic and analytical methods include x-ray fluoroscopy, computed radiography, digital radiography, radio gauging (RG), single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), positron emission tomography (PET) and computed tomography (CT).